Speaker
Description
Invasive species, plants and animals introduced to ecosystems without natural predators or controls, are a global problem. The Asian Carp has invaded the Mississippi River Basin in the USA, and now threatens the Great Lakes. To prevent migration of this large invasive species into the Great Lakes, the US Army Corp of Engineers has built and operated two demonstration barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal since 2002. These barriers use pulsed electric fields to block Asian Carp from moving through the Canal, the primary connection between the Basin and Lake Michigan.
Diversified Technologies, Inc. was recently awarded a subcontract from exp Federal, under a prime contract from the US Army Corps of Engineers, to build the large pulsers required for a permanent barrier on the Canal.
This barrier uses bi-polar pulses driving an array of electrodes to create an electric field across the entire Canal. This barrier field will be sufficient to deter the Asian carp and even smaller fish from swimming upstream to Lake Michigan. This field must operate continuously, even in the presence of barges and ships. Two pulsers are planned, with the first in construction now. Each pulser includes:
• 4.5 MW, 4 kV DC power supply, with voltage regulation
• 4 MJ capacitor bank, which stores energy for the pulses
• Solid-state pulse switches, which produce currents up to 30 kA with a frequency of up to 100 Hz, and pulsewidths of 1 – 1,000 milliseconds
• Mechanical output reversing switch, allowing the pulse polarity on the electrodes to be reversed
This paper will detail the design and intended operation of this pulser, which will be the largest known PEF system in the world when completed.
This effort is funded under US Army Corps of Engineers contract W912P6-18-C-0021 with exp Federal.
